1. Technical Field
This invention is in the field of ornamental figures for lawns and gardens and, in particular, relates to apparatus for constructing such figures.
2. Background
Ornamental figures for lawns and gardens are quite popular, especially in warmer climates. Mass produced items are made from plastic. Plaster of Paris figures from molds are also popular. Wire frames have been used with a fabric or other covering. Even decorated plastic bags filled with tree leaves are used for construction of Halloween figures in the U.S.
Another construction material is flower pots or clay pots. These are readily available, relatively inexpensive starting materials, ideally suited for weathering outdoor elements. Moreover, they are esthetically suitable for lawn and garden settings.
A search on the Internet for “clay pot people” turned up about 157,000 results. This includes people making clay pots. A quick perusal of the first few results indicated that there was great interest, both amateur and commercial, in using clay pots for figures and other ornamental designs. However, it appeared that the majority decorated a single pot. Occasionally a stack of two clay pots, the one on the bottom being inverted, was used. No one seemed to have attempted using a larger number of pots.
Problems with using a large number of clay pots are that a nested stack would use too many pots per unit of height and stacks with pots rim-to-rim would be unstable. Thus, until this invention, people have been limited to using one or two clay pots to produce ornamental figures.
An apparatus that would allow the use of a number of clay pots would be a boon to lawn and garden ornamental design. However, to be a practical success, such apparatus must be very inexpensive and simple to assemble. Mechanically, it must be light, yet strong enough to support clay pots. It should be neither so rigid that pots cannot be oriented at different angles nor so flexible that pots are oriented solely by gravity. To save costs, there should be as few different parts as possible. Of course, it should not have sharp points, edges, or rough areas. Although it is not essential to meet all of these goals to practice the invention, each is desirable. So far, however, there is nothing available on the market to meet even the overall need.